BitterSweet
by Aikido Kiryuu
Summary: A school much like Cross Academy has rivaled with them for years. When two new students from this academy join into Cross Academy's Day Class, will bonds be made and repaired? Or will they be bullied into depression? ZeroxOC ON HOLD
1. One Way

1. One Way

"Do we really have to go, Chairman Kizu?" I asked, annoyed. I really didn't want to go to another school, even for a little bit. Especially not a rivaling one. "Besides, we'll miss classes." I added quickly.

"You won't be missing any classes, Hitomi," was the plain, flat response I got. "We're just going to sort some things out with Cross Academy. So, you and Hikaru will be temporarily joining the classes there. Think of it as an exchange program that…just goes one way." Our Chairman was not listening to me at all.

Hikaru was standing next to me, silent as stone. He didn't want to go either, he'd even complained to me about it earlier. Chairman Kizu was going there on business, to meet with Chairman Cross. Hikaru, as his son, and I, Akiko Hitomi, as his niece, would both have to go along since we were Ko Academy's guardians as well. Hikaru's jet black hair was in front of his dark eyes, and he was obviously frowning. Chairman Kizu wasn't caring about his son's will, because we had no say in this. We both would have to go.

Ko Academy is a mixture of the Moon and Sun classes, similar to the idea of Cross Academy. Our school was much more co-ed though. All of our school events were held together, the Moon Class which contained vampires, and the Sun class which contained humans, and some of our tame vampires. Of course, the peace hadn't been broken for nearly five years now, and our vampires remained as a safe secret. Sure, I'd had a crush on Rin-sensei, one of the few Sun Class vampires, but…I'd faced reality by now. Vampires and Humans might live in harmony sometimes, but…it could never work out to anything more than a friendship. And where it stood now, that's what it was. Rin was good friend of mine. And I hardly loved him.

"I don't want to go," I said sternly, while fiddling with the edge of my pleated red and black skirt. It was very wrinkled. I'd have to iron it later.

"You really don't have a choice." I was expecting that response, but I sighed out of frustration nonetheless. Not being able to win really was not a pleasant experience. My emotions were all jumbled up inside, threatening to break loose. Then I would probably start to scream at him, which would consequently, land me in trouble.

But just maybe, I might get in trouble enough not to go.

I didn't get a chance to test my theory, because Hikaru spoke up.

"Father, I don't understand why it is that we have to go. Then who will protect the school in our absence?" Hikaru looked up from the floor, and was staring at his father with cold eyes.

"We won't have to worry, don't you remember? The Moon Class is to go home for the following month. Our Day Class vampires are under enough control, and if there's a problem, my replacement will be able to call me. I can be here within thirty minutes." I gave Hikaru a look that said, 'give it up, buddy.' We weren't going to win.

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And that was how I wound up at Cross Academy.


	2. Immature

I don't own Vampire Knight.

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2. Immature

"Cross, this is Akiko Hitomi and Kizu Hikaru, my niece and my son." Chairman Kizu gestured to us on cue of our names.

I nodded with a face of stone, and Hikaru just stood there, showing no respect for Chairman Cross. The bonehead.

"They are the Guardians of my school." Chairman Kizu added.

"This is Cross Yuuki and Kiryu Zero." Chairman Cross said in turn, looking rather coldly at Hikaru and I. Yuuki, the girl, smiled at us, and Zero, they boy gave us one glance and then nothing more. I sighed, bored already. I didn't want or need to be here. I combed my fingers through my long wave of brown hair, and pretended to be interested in the floor as Chairman Kizu and Cross exchanged words. I was listening intently, and Hikaru was looking at Zero. There was tension in the room- too much of it. So much I thought that my head might explode under the pressure.

"They'll be receiving private rooms of course, am I correct?" Chairman Kizu asked, somewhat loudly. I smirked, so tiny, that you couldn't see it if you were two inches from my face. Not that you would be. And if you were…well, get away!

"Of course, Kizu. Yuuki, Zero, will you escort them both to my guest rooms? They look rather tired."

"Of course, Chairman!" Yuuki sang before taking me by the wrist. I was shocked, but mostly because I disliked people touching me. "Come on…Hitomi, was it?"

"Er…yeah." I said, studying her. What a good mask she was wearing. Hikaru walked by my side, and Zero behind the three of us. Zero was an interesting person. I wanted to know a little more about him though before I made any decisions. Hikaru was glaring at Zero, for some reason that I was curious about. I let it go though, and pulled my wrist from Yuuki's grasp. I felt for my anti-vampire gun underneath my skirt, and sighed in relief when I knew it was still there, safe. Chairman Kizu had mentioned something about Hikaru and I helping Yuuki and Zero protect the grounds at night. Apparently their vampires weren't quite as obedient. Then again, not all of ours were, either. No need to be a hypocrite, Hitomi.

"Here we are!" Yuuki smiled at me, but we still uneasy about me being from Ko Academy. She didn't trust me, and that was a good thing. She didn't need to trust me. She unlocked the door for me before handing me a small, rusty golden colored key. I put it in my uniform's jacket pocket, before going into my new room.

It was small, but comfortable. I put my suitcase at the end of my bed, telling myself I would unpack later. Later. Probably not. One of my weaknesses was always forgetting to unpack. Silly, I know.

"Thank you," I murmured quietly to Yuuki, while closing my curtains. They day was threatening rain, and I preferred my room dark.

"Hitomi, I'll be in the room right next door to you," Hikaru said to me flatly. He was still giving looks to Zero. I wondered why, but it would have been out of place to ask him, for obvious reasons, eh?

I nodded, trying to read his expression. I failed at that task, since he was impossible to read. Hikaru had always been that way though, so I thought nothing of it, and sat on my bed. Yuuki smiled and closed the door, and I'd never been so thankful in my life to be alone. I fell back on my bed, staring down at the top of my suitcase. The enemy force.

The enemy force, who was just daring me to unpack it. 'Go ahead. Just try to unpack me you lazy thing.' I imagined it taunting.

So I did the immature thing.

I didn't unpack it.

I kicked it over.

Nobody imaginary taunts me and gets away with it.

Take that you stupid suitcase.

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Like it? Hate it?

Reviews appreciated!!


	3. Questions Questions

3. Questions, Questions

"Hikaru?" I knocked on his door a few times, to see if he was there.

He opened his door. "What is it, Hitomi?" He asked.

"Why are you being such a…well…jerk?" I had to say it plain and simple. Like his brain.

"Because they obviously don't like us either. So…why not return the favor?"

I hit his forehead, "You're an idiot, you know that?" And with those final words, I left him with something to contemplate. I ran into Yuuki, who had brought us some clean towels for us to use. I took the fluffy minty colored one. It reminded me of…well…mints. Do you need more of an explanation than that? I guess Hikaru-kun would just be stuck with the pink one. Too bad. In my opinion, he definitely deserved worse than using a feminine towel.

"Thanks." I said softly, trying to smile out of courtesy. After all…I didn't need people plotting revenge against me. That just wasn't my thing at all. She smiled back, but was clearly uncomfortable with me.

I went back into my bedroom, and put the towel on the end of my bed. I'd take a shower a little later. I started to unpack that evil suitcase of mine, and the first thing I did was take out my picture, with the cedar frame I carved into when I was maybe eleven. It had little hearts and stars everywhere, with the occasional simple word such as "Love" or "Hope."

The picture showed me and my two younger siblings, Lin and Toshiro. They were my twin little siblings… my brother and sister. The surviving ones. They had been triplets. I don't remember my dead little sister…I was too young. Lin and Toshiro were only two years behind me, and they went to Ko academy as well. Lin and Toshiro were completely identical, aside from gender, and had the same haircut, too. However…Lin was obviously more feminine then her counterpart.

I put the picture on my nightstand, and hung my clothes up in the closet.

Someone knocked on my door, and I knocked the picture into the nearest drawer that I could find. "Yes??" I asked. Wow…that had sounded as if I was trying to hide something. I opened the door to see Zero, Cross Academy's male prefect. "Can I help you?" I asked.

"Hn. Chairman Kizu wants to talk to you." He said, sounding bored.

I nodded. "Thank you, Kiryu."

"Zero."

"Hn." I mimicked mockingly. He either didn't notice or didn't care. He probably just didn't care. If I was betting money, that's what I'd bet on.

I pushed myself past him, trying to make my self believe he wasn't as handsome as my hormones were screaming that he was. Whoremones. That's what they were.

"Yes, Uncle?" I asked, entering Chairman Cross' office.

"Can you try to keep Hikaru in line? He's not himself lately…" Chairman Kizu said. We were both standing up, but my uncle was short. I almost had an inch on him. And Hikaru was taller than me…by nearly six inches. But that's only because I wasn't very tall at all. I was maybe all of five feet one inch (English measurement. Deal with it. I don't know the metric system.).

"What are you talking about? He's always this way…" I pointed out flatly. "It shouldn't be my job to control him when he goes all weird."

"Hitomi, please. He dislikes Zero…and he's made that pretty obvious. So just…watch out, will you?"

"Why would Hikaru not like-"

"Drop it, Hitomi, alright? We never had this conversation." He gave me a hard, stern glare with intimidating brown eyes. I nodded and walked out.

What was that about?! Why would Hikaru hate Zero that much?

* * *

This story has shorter chapters…and isn't updated very often…because my other story is my first priority…(Another ZeroxOC one…)but I will get around to it…and try for longer chapters. I just wanted to get another chapter up so you know I didn't forget about it!


	4. I Owe You

4. I Owe You

…The Night Class was beautiful. Even more beautiful then our Ko Academy vampires.

…and they were showing an intense interest in someone.

…someone near me…

No…it…was me.

But why would…?

…The Day Class mob had noticed it too. Now they had a reason to hate me. They'd hated me before. After all, I was just a 'rich Ko Academy snob.' Now…they hated me…so much more. Something told me I'd be getting stabbed in an alleyway some day soon. I flinched at that…less than admirable thought. Yes…

The fan girls were approaching me now with evil intentions in their eyes. Some of them were yelling nasty things. Some of them looked ready to kill me. I scrambled to climb up a tree, and I sat on a branch. They called nasty things up at me, and one of them ripped my shoe off and then consequently threw it at my head. I managed to grab it right before it hit my face.

"Hey, chill!" I called over their obnoxious yelling.

I wasn't going to get out of this one easily. Not without a bruise or a cut or two. Not something I really wanted at the moment.

"No!!!" A girl screamed at me. Her face was as bright red as a stoplight. Uh-oh.

I panicked. "Hey, look over there! Aidou's giving free kisses!!!" I'd learned the vampires names before I'd come here, out of courtesy. Aidou looked over at me, with a horrified expression as the girls ran over to swarm him. Whoops.

I jumped out of the tree, and ran like hell…thumpthumpthumpthump…my feet were running much faster than I expected…thumpthumpthumpthump…run faster…faster…faster…

I only remembered to breathe when I returned back to my dorm room.

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"New girl." a voice said from behind me. I was sitting on the edge of a fountain, running my hand through the water. I had a lot on my mind…

But mostly, I just wanted to go back to Ko Academy. Most of the people here disliked me from my origins anyways. At Ko Academy I was just disliked…period. I looked up to face who was talking to me.

"Hanabusa." I said flatly.

"Why'd you have to sic all those girls on me, eh? Not that they aren't cute and all, but let's face it, they're annoying as hell!" He smiled brightly. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to break their adorable little spirits?"

"No. I don't." I was trying to keep the conversation simple, in hopes it would end sooner or later. Hopefully sooner.

He shrugged. "Alright, so it was pretty easy." He sat down next to me. "But…why was that necessary?"

"Because they were going to eat me alive." I said, standing up. "I panicked."

"Well, I would like an apology…whatever your name was…"

"Hitomi." I said simply. "I'm sorry. What more do you want from me?? Okay, I get it…I owe you."

"I'll make sure you regret you ever owed me." He winked, and disappeared…


	5. A Helping Hand From An Unexpected Ally

"Out of my way, Ko kid." a Day Class Boy pushed me over, causing me to spill my books in the hallway. I hastily hurried to pick them all up.

People were laughing at me now…a whole crowd had gathered around by now. A laughing crowd. To bad this wasn't any freaking comedy. I was blushing a bright red color now, and then someone threw a ball of paper at my head. It hit it's target, and I blushed even redder. I probably resembled a tomato now. I held my ground on all fours, trying not to freak out and scream at them all. I felt my vision getting blurry, and I wanted to cry, so badly. But I wouldn't give these creeps that satisfaction.

I saw someone's knees beneath my curtain of hair. Someone was helping me get my books. I looked up to see Kiryu Zero. He was handing me the books I'd dropped, and I took them from him gratefully.

"Thank you…" I said quietly, wondering whether or not he'd push me over again as soon as I got up. But he didn't seem like the type. I didn't want to get up to face the morons who'd been laughing at me, though. I didn't want to stand.

"No problem." He said quietly, before standing up. "You lot, get lost. There's nothing more to see here." I assumed he used the scare tactic by giving them all a death glare. Because the crowd split apart, and they hurried off to get back to their dorms, since it was the end of the school day.

His hand reached down to me, and I took it thankfully, and stood up. I brushed myself off quickly.

"Are you alright?" He asked, not sounding all too concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, smiling weakly at him. "Aside from having my lunch taken, stepped on, and thrown out, having someone shooting spitballs at me in almost every class, and being pushed over, knocked into, and hit all day…" I didn't want to ramble on, and bore him.

"Hn. Don't let them get to you. They're all jerks." And with that, he walked off.

I'd never felt so thankful to have someone who'd actually helped me.

There were first times for everything, I supposed.


	6. And the World Came Crashing Down

Referring to one of my previous chapters, I noticed that I wrote "English measurement." Which is totally completely inaccurate. I meant to say AMERICAN measurement. That is all.

I was sitting outside, up against a tree. I had my trusty leather-bound book in my lap, and I was running my fingers up and down the length of it. My leather-bound book was full of everything. Songs, poetry, quotes, school drafts, everything. There were even a few drawings scattered throughout it. I took it everywhere with me.

I'd been a very small child when my parents had given it to me for my birthday. It had even had my name in shiny gold paint on the front. There had been stickers of kittens and ponies and stars and rainbows on it, too. But you can't expect a six-year old to do much more with a journal than throw it underneath her bed and forget it ever existed. And that's exactly what the six year old me had done. Thrown a jewel like this underneath her bed, letting it collect dust and age in secret. But then, three years ago, right before I went to Ko Academy, I'd found it again. And I'd found it exactly the way I'd received it. Empty. Give or take some dust.

As soon as I'd found it, I eagerly leafed through it, suddenly inspired by the vast fields of blank paper that were just waiting to be filled. Then I had closed it, brushed the dust off, and held it to my chest. But then I realized that something was wrong with my newly discovered journal. It was covered in colorful tacky glitter stickers. And the much smarter, more mature fourteen year old me ripped them all off without hesitation. Except for one. In the bottom right hand corner there was the last survivor from the sticker apocalypse. A small rose. I don't know why I left it on there. But I did.

And it's still on there, too.

I gently brushed my fingers against the little flower. My little reminder to myself to hang in there, and live through life no matter what. Because where there seems to be nothing, there is always something. I put my book down for a second, and stood up. I quickly checked over my immediate area, pleased to find that I was really, completely alone. Then I opened up my book as carefully as I could, aware that the spine was weakening with age and use. I slowly began reviewing my entries from the beginning. It was something I did a lot. Sometimes just to pass the time, but mostly just for reassurance that my life was really happening, and that I wasn't just walking through some sick dream.

"Hitomi," a voice said from somewhere in the immediate vicinity. I slammed my book shut with such a force that I could swear I heard the pages cry out in pain.

"Crap, Hikaru! Don't do that!" I swore under my breath, and looked up to face my angst-ridden cousin.

"Come on," Hikaru grunted, grabbing my upper arm and yanking me upward. I held my book tightly with my other arm.

"Come where?" I asked in a slightly high-pitched voice.

"Cross's Office. You have a phone call. Your brother, I think."

Why would Toshiro be calling me? Usually he avoided me like the plague ever since he hit puberty. I was just his embarrassing older sister. That was all. Lin, on the other hand, called me a lot when we were apart. Last year, when she'd gone on her class trip to France, she called me more than she called our parents.

"That can't be right. It has to be someone else," I said, in a panicked voice. I don't know how I knew, but I could tell even then that something bad had happened.

"Maybe," was the only response that Hikaru could offer me.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go in," Hikaru ordered, leaning up against the wall next to the office door. I stared at Hikaru, who was totally and completely calm as usual, and wondered why he couldn't be a little bit more concerned. He was an only child though, so maybe he didn't get the whole sibling-out-of-the-ordinary thing.

I placed my book down on a chair, relieved to find the office empty. The telephone was off the receiver, so I picked it up.

"Hello?" I asked, trying to sound calm. Like Hikaru. Be like Hikaru.

"Er…h-hi, Hitomi…" It was Toshiro. And he sounded small and alone and afraid. It broke my heart instantly.

"Toshiro? What's the matter?" I asked softly, struggling to control my emotions.

"It's Lin, Hitomi. Lin is gone."

"What? Are you sure?" I practically shrieked. "She can't be gone! Where would she go?!"

Toshiro broke down into sobs so loud and sincere that I could hardly understand him. "I-I did something dumb. I…got involved with the wrong people, you know? They wanted me to drink. Alcohol and stuff. I said no, but they wouldn't listen. They made me do it. Then I ran into Lin after I'd had a little too much. I said some things and we fought. She ran off. I'm sorry, Hitomi. I'm just…s-scared."

I swallowed a lump in my throat. I couldn't digest the fact that my little sister was missing.

"Everyone is…l-looking for her. But she's nowhere on campus. What if something bad happened to her Hitomi? What if one of the vampires did something? Or if she ran into town and-"

"Shut up Toshiro!" I screamed, "She's fine! She has to be! Nothing happened to her!" But I knew that the only person I was really trying to convince was myself. When Toshiro didn't respond, and I heard a faint sniffle on the other end of the phone, I calmed down. Yelling at him wasn't going to solve any problems. No matter how mad at him I was. "When did she run off?"

"A couple hours ago. It's so unlike her and we all thought she'd be back by now for sure. You know she gets moody sometimes…but she hasn't come back now. It's been four hours. I- I'm sorry Hitomi, but I can't be on the phone any longer." Toshiro swallowed. "I love you," he whispered before hanging up.

I forlornly hung up the phone, and fell to my knees.

I had never felt so lost or alone before.


	7. Lapse of Memory Ends In Trouble

"What happened?" Hikaru asked as I walked out of the office with what felt like the weight of the world on my chest. Some invisible force was suffocating me, slowly stealing away my air. It was taking me over, pushing me to the floor, and I couldn't take in any more air. The world had stopped spinning on its axis, the moon had crashed into it, and now it was floating away from the safety of the Sun, into deep space with nothing to keep anything alive anymore.

I fell to the ground, and curled up into a ball. "I can't breathe," I choked out, before sobbing again.

Hikaru sat up against the wall beside me, and put an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side. Even though he was usually cold and a little mean, he knew when to show his emotions. He knew when it was important. In hindsight, he really wasn't a bad cousin at all. And he was really, really good at making me feel better. Sometimes I had a tendency to think of him more as a brother.

"It's Lin. She's gone," I whispered, finding it hard to say anything more.

Hikaru stood up, taking me along with him. "You should go and get some rest."

"How can I sleep?" I cried, pulling away from him in shock. I wiped some stray tears from my eyes.

He took a deep breath, before grabbing me by the shoulders and forcing me to look in his eyes. "That wasn't a suggestion."

I glared at him, hurt aching in all of my limbs. I shrugged his hands off of my shoulders, and I stalked away. I didn't go back to my room. Instead I returned back outside. I felt so empty. Where could Lin have possibly gone? I knew my sister, and I knew that she got really, really upset if she got a little upset. I hid behind the Academy's stables, listening to the quiet grunting of the horses. It was slowly calming me down. Being a nervous wreck wouldn't help Lin.

I couldn't help feeling that something else was wrong, though. I tried to push away my worries, because I knew it wasn't healthy.

* * *

Yuudai, the Day Class boy that had bullied Hitomi earlier, had been called to Chairman Cross's office for talking back to a teacher. Yuudai was in no mood for this, especially at nine at night. The teacher had forgotten to inform Cross right away, and Yuudai had thought he'd gotten lucky. But no such luck.

"Now Yuu-" The Chairman began, and Yuudai was already not paying attention. Something else had captivated his attention. A book hanging off of the chair beside him. In fading gold letters, a name was written.

"Chairman Cross?" Someone else knocked on the door. The other Ko snob, Yuudai thought.

"I'll be right back to continue this discussion, Yuudai," Chairman Cross sighed and left his office.

When Yuudai was certain that the Chairman was deep in conversation, he plucked the large book from the seat. Hitomi. The Ko girl? What was her name doing on the book? Yuudai held his breath as he opened up the book. He leafed through the pages, and soon realized that he'd struck gold. This was Hitomi's journal. Yuudai smirked, and slipped it into his bag on the floor. Oh, the power he had. The rumors he could start. The secrets he could spill. All of the possibilities swam around in his head, like anxious fish. Suddenly, the Chairman returned, and Yuudai snapped into slumping back in the chair, looking like he'd never moved.

"Now Yuudai, this isn't the first time you've been in here…"

Whatever, thought Yuudai. Let the lecture begin.

* * *

My heart stopped. I shot up, desperately feeling around the ground for my book. Where did my book go? Unless-

No. I couldn't have left it in the Chairman's office.

No.

No.

No!

I broke into a run back to his office. On my way, I ran into the Day Class boy from before. He had no rude remark, no insult, no physical attack. He just moved on, and got away from me as fast as possible, as if I were diseased.

I carefully knocked on the Chairman's door. When I didn't get a response, I carefully peeked in, and looked at the chair where I'd left my book. Empty. My heart dropped through the floor. My book was gone. My book of everything, my child, was gone.


	8. Starting the Fire

Yuudai was sharing Hitomi's book with all of his friends at lunch the next day, and they were laughing at all of the previous entries: the poems, the drawings, the diary entries.

"My God, she's so lame," one of his friends laughed, pointing to one of Hitomi's older sappy poems about a crush she'd had on a boy back at Ko Academy. Complete with a sketch of him, too.

"She really isn't that bad at drawing, though. It's more of what she draws that's odd," Yuudai smirked to himself, imagining what would happen to the Ko transfers if this book made its way around the entire Day Class. "What do you say we pass this lovely little book around?"

His friends nodded in excited agreement. "She'd be so crushed, maybe they'd just both leave from embarrassment!"

Yuudai smirked. "Ah, the fun that we'll have with this, no? Hey, Dai!" He called out to one of his acquaintances walking by.

Dai looked up, as if surprised that Yuudai, the school bully, was even talking to him anymore. Dai and Yuudai had been friends in the lower grades, but then Dai had split apart when Yuudai's little pranks got worse. Dai walked over to him, though, curious. "What is it?" He asked flatly.

"You know that new girl, and her cousin? The Ko kids? Well...this is her diary. And we want them out of our school. So...we've decided to pass this around. Humiliate them until they leave, hm?" Yuudai said, without any malice in his voice.

Now, Dai may have split apart from Yuudai, but that didn't mean he wasn't cruel as well. He hated the Ko kids as much as anybody else. Especially because Dai, on the soccer team, had always been on the losing team between the two schools. So, he had a bone to pick. Even though Hitomi and Hikaru had never done anything to him personally, anyone from Ko was evil if you were from Cross Academy. "All right, Yuudai, you have my attention," Dai said, looking over the book. Secrets. Drawings. Poems. Words. Everything all flooded into him at once as he just looked at one page of the notebook. This was perfect. This was the kind of thing you needed for a social Armageddon against someone. "I'll pass it on," he agreed, smirking and taking the book. "Don't you worry, I'll pass it on." Dai walked away, a smile on his face. This was wonderful. Perfect. Revenge. This book would have made its way through the entire day class by the end of the week. And Hitomi, the poor, pretty little thing, would be crushed.

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I was curled up in a ball on my bed, picturing everything in the world that was bad happening to my delicate little sister. I had gone back to my dorm for lunch, trying to stay as far away from the Cross Academy students as possible. They didn't like me, that was obvious. The feeling was mutual, of course. And I wanted to leave as much as they wanted me to. I wasn't sure of how much more of this outcast thing I could take. I'd never been popular at Ko Academy either, but it hadn't been as bad since the Chairman was my uncle. Here, it was just a nightmare.

Not to mention that my book was gone- in evil hands, no doubt. I imagined my secrets to be spreading around like wildfire now. I moaned just thinking about it. I should have never even risked bringing it here. It had been a dumb, thoughtless move on my part, and now I was paying for it. Apparently, everyone was still searching for my baby sister, as my brother had told me upon calling back this morning. I sat up, due to the time. I had to get back to class.

When I got back to my History class after lunch, I noticed that everyone whispered and looked at me when I walked in. I squeezed my eyes shut, and dealt with it. They'd all seen or heard of my book, I knew that for a fact. By now, I had a pretty good idea of who had found it. The boy who'd picked on me, and the boy who'd run into me and then run away like I was the black plague. And he'd spread it around, and now everyone knew everything about me. My crush on Rin-sensei, although he wasn't really my teacher, he had been my algebra tutor, so I'd started calling him it as a joke. The day I first got my womanly gift. My angst-ridden poem against Hikaru when he'd "accidentally" smashed my MP3 player last year. _Everything_. This had to be one of the worst days of my life.

I tried to ignore everyone's harsh whispers, and concentrate on the words people were saying that weren't about me. Girls were chattering about the dance later this week, so I attempted to focus on that, instead. But then the two girls I'd been listening to dragged the topic of me into the conversation. I strained my ears while pretending to take notes.

"I hope that stupid Ko girl leaves before the dance," the first girl said, not in a mean way, but in a sad sort of way. "Even though she's from Ko, a lot of the boys think she's pretty."

Oh, come on. How could I not smile at that?

"I know," the other one moaned, "She knows it, too. Probably thinks she's better than us and stuff. I'm hoping that Dai-kun asks me, though. But as long as no one asks Hitomi, I'll be satisfied. After all, it's our dance, not theirs."

They're just jealous, they're just jealous, they're just jealous. Or, that's what I tried to tell myself anyways. I hadn't meant to act like a snob...I just...well it was pretty hard to talk to a group of people who just hated you in general. Of course, since the book had begun going around, I'd been getting attacked verbally almost constantly.

"Shh, I think she can hear us!" One of the girls hissed.

I hadn't even realized that in my fascination of their conversation, I'd turned to look at the pair of girls. I quickly looked away, returning to my notes. Without even realizing it, I'd drawn a heart, with a Z in it. I erased it, surprised with myself. I hadn't even remembered moving my hand to draw such a thing. Having a crush on a boy here would just be useless, anyways. I'd never see him again after I returned to my real school. Right now I had to focus on surviving in this school. I couldn't worry myself with boys.


	9. Thank You

"Hey, Hitomi, is it really true you never knew who your father was?" Some kid called at me, laughing. "You're just the product of an affair he had when he was drunk?"

I tried to ignore them. After all, my history wasn't really their business, anyways. I tried to block them out. But it was difficult, almost too difficult. I squeezed my eyes together and continued to walk away from them. I was never one to start conflict.

"How'd you even get into Ko, anyways? Your mom couldn't have been smart enough to have a decent job!"

I must have been turning bright red by now. My uncle was the Chairman of the Academy- that was the main reason I got in. The second reason was that on a good day, I probably could have written poetry more beautiful than anything. When I was younger, just starting to write poetry, I hadn't been doing it because I had to, but because I wanted to. A lot of it was just free verse, but as I continued to write, the teachers praised me. Soon, writing had become my strongest point.

But here, now, my special book was in the hands of evil brats with no respect for anyone slightly different. My work, being mocked. My best sketches, laughed at. I think that it was the sketches being made fun of that hurt the most. I wasn't an amazing artist, but my sketches were pretty good besides that they lacked in some certain elements. My grandmother had taught me how in the six months before she died. Before she'd died, she made me swear to keep drawing, no matter how terrible I thought I was. A promise on a deathbed is one that can't be broken, so I'd kept up with it as frequently as my crazy schedule allowed. I'd gotten better slowly, but they were only good in comparison to some of my other classmates' sketches. Compare them to the masters' sketches, I might as well just put down my pencil and never pick it up again.

I carried my books, trying to look dignified. And failing, too. Anyone who might have looked me in the eyes would have seen that I was suffering, being cut up by their torment. So, I just wouldn't let them see me in the eyes. That way, I figured, they wouldn't see that they were winning. I refused to let them know that they were winning.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Someone asked the kids behind me. I turned around, surprised someone that wasn't Hikaru was sticking up for me. I was even more surprised to see Kiryuu Zero again. The boy that I apparently had an unconscious crush on. No...that was an accident...it had to be an accident. Right?

"Ah...Kiryuu!" One of the boys that had just teased me said, surprised, "W-what are you doing here?"

Zero sighed. "You really should find a better hobby. Teasing others just because they go to another school to you just proves that you're worse than them. It's shameful, really. Just leave the girl alone."

"Just who do you think you are, anyways?" I had expected that to come from one of the boys who had been teasing me, but instead, it was coming from Hikaru himself. Hikaru stormed up to face Zero. "You don't have to stick up for us like we can't handle ourselves!"

I'd never seen Hikaru so angry before.

"Hikaru, what are you doing? He was just being nice!" I protested, holding a hand out.

"No, he's doing it because he feels sorry for you. Do you really want that, Hitomi?"

I looked at the ground thoughtfully. Then I looked up. "I'd rather have someone trying and everyone against me, then no one trying and everyone on my side."

Hikaru stared at me, surprised. "What is that supposed to mean, exactly?"

"It means that I don't care if nobody here likes me. As long as someone at least tries to stick up for me, then I don't care!" I'd never fought with my cousin like this before. We'd had arguments, but neither one of us had ever gotten this passionate over it. "What's your _problem_, anyways? Kiryuu _never_ did _anything_, yet you don't even give him a chance!"

"It's nothing," Hikaru said, suddenly quiet. He shut his eyes and turned his head away from me. "If you don't care about someone's pity charity, then why should I stop it?" Hikaru walked away from me, and into his classroom halfway down the hall. A crowd had gathered around us to watch us fight, and now everyone was either laughing or completely silent.

I looked around to thank Zero, but I was too late. He was already gone.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I wasn't supposed to be out this late, but I had to find Kiryuu and thank him for earlier. It was the least that I could do, I convinced myself. But really, unconsciously, I think I just wanted to see him again.

"You aren't supposed to be out here, you know," Zero suddenly said, coming up beside me.

I felt all of the blood rush to my cheeks, "I...I just wanted to thank you...for earlier, I mean."

"Oh, that," he said, no emotion in his voice. It sent chills down my spine. "That was nothing."

I felt my heart sink a little bit, "I figured," I said, calmly, "I just wanted to let you know that I'm really grateful for your help, even if it was out of pity." I looked at the ground, afraid to ask my next question. "But...I need to know...why did you even bother?"

"It's my responsibility to keep the other students here safe and under control. You weren't safe, and that kid was out of control." I must have looked a little downcast that the reason was only because of duty, because then he said, "And...if it makes you feel any better, then I have to say that I personally don't care about you or Kizu Hikaru being here either way. Although, he's beginning to get on my nerves."

"He just has problems accepting others," I said, quietly. "He's lived in his own little world without anyone else for a long time now, you know? He isn't used to it."

"He's protective," Zero noted, not really looking at me, but looking through me.

"Yeah," I said, with a little smile. "I guess he is, isn't he? Well, I guess I should be going back to my dorm now. Thanks for talking with me, at least. No one else here has even given me a second glance if not to laugh at me." I turned around and started to walk away.

"By the way," Zero added, very quietly and reluctantly, "I didn't just tell them to leave you alone because it's my duty. I did it because you never did anything wrong to them, and you didn't deserve it."

I turned around again, a small smile on my face. "Thanks. But here, being from another Academy _is_ doing something wrong."

"Now get back to your dorm before I have to report you." He said it seriously, but I could see that there was the tiniest hint of a smirk on his face.


	10. Emergency Situation

"What do you mean someone burned Ko to the ground?" Hikaru and I cried simultaneously, as Kizu gave us the devastating news.

"Exactly what I said," Kizu said quietly, with a grimace on his face. He was buttoning up his coat. "Now, I need to return, on my own, and figure things out. "I need to know of any casualties, and I need to know what's being done there now."

"When...was this?" Hikaru asked, turning towards the window.

"This morning, at two A.M. They couldn't put the fires out, but as far as I know, everyone is still living."

"What about my brother. Is he okay?" I couldn't help but think of Toshiro. He was my main concern, with Lin still missing. And I didn't want to lose both of my siblings in one week.

Kizu nodded, "Yes, he's fine. When I got the phone call, he was of course the person I asked about. He is my nephew, after all."

I sighed, relieved. "Thank God," I whispered, looking at the ceiling.

"But, I really do need to be off right this minute," Kizu said, picking up one of his suitcases and leaving us in the office. Hikaru and I continued to sit there, in complete silence, listening to the activities of all of the other students who were outside, making their way to their first classes of the morning. "We should get going, too," I said softly, putting a hand on my cousin's shoulder.

"I don't care," Hikaru snapped back coldly, "I don't care if I never go to class here again."

"Hikaru..." I said, my shoulders sinking an inch. "I..."

"Just don't talk, okay? You're annoying."

I pulled my hand back from his shoulder, his words stinging. He didn't have to be so blunt about it. I put my hands into my lap, and stared at them. I didn't want to leave Hikaru here, because I knew that he wouldn't have left me, even if he did find me annoying.

Zero opened the door, and walked in. "Did Kizu leave already?" He asked. It was impossible to tell what he was feeling through his voice.

"Yeah," I said, turning around. "He left."

"So why don't you do the same, and get lost?" Hikaru snapped, icily.

I turned to Hikaru, unwilling to put up with his useless cruelty. "Shut up!" I said, slapping him. "You don't have to be a jerk, you know, all of us are a little pissed off right now. You aren't the only one."

"Actually, he's right, I should get going."

I turned around to say something, but the door had already closed behind him. I stood up, looking down at Hikaru. "I don't care what you do, but don't make other people around you feel like crap just because you're in a bad mood." Then I ran after Zero, needing to apologize for Hikaru's behavior.

"What are you doing, Hitomi?" Hikaru called after me. I paused. "Fixing your mistake."

"Stay away from him!" Hikaru shouted, but I ignored him. I didn't know what his problem was, but one of these days I was going to hurt him.

"Grow up," I said, to Hikaru, but he wasn't supposed to hear it. I continued to run after Kiryuu, though.

"Zero, wait!" I called, stopping to catch my breath.

He stopped, and turned around. With a sigh, he asked, "What do you want?"

"I just...wanted to apologize for my cousin's rudeness...he's a little...well he isn't very good with people."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," he said, with a type of cold sarcasm.

"He's just...moody...and...probably worried about the school, too." Although, I really doubted he cared about the school. I wasn't sure if I was trying to justify his reasons for my own sake, or Zero's.

"Hn. Well it's pretty obvious that he doesn't want you around me. And he's hated me from day one. But I can say with complete certainty that the feeling is mutual."

I swallowed. Why were men this difficult? "I don't think he hates you in particular...he just...sort of hates everyone."

"Hitomi, stop it!" Hikaru called from behind me. I whirled around, and Hikaru grabbed my wrist and began tugging me away. "Let's go to class."

"Hikaru!" I yelled, trying to pull away from his grasp, "Stop it! Stop being such a jerk!"

"I'm not being a jerk. I'm just worried about you."

"Well, I don't care," I hissed, "I'm tired of you trying to force me to think one way or another, and I'm tired of you dragging me around and having things always go the way you want them to. I know that you think that I'm your only friend, and because of that, I shouldn't be friends with anyone else. But the fact is, I'm tired of your possessiveness, okay? You're my cousin- not my boyfriend." I tore my wrist away from his grasp. "So stop telling me who I can and can't talk to."

His eyes widened, as if he was shocked. "Hitomi...I...I've never seen you like this..."

"Well I'm tired of being good all of the time. I'm tired of playing perfect little niece to your uncle. I want to be my own person- not who you try and force me to be. You've done it ever since we were little. I played the games you wanted to play. I did what you wanted to do- but I can't take it anymore. You don't like Zero, and I get that, but could you please, please just respect my choices?" I walked away from him, towards the school building. I was almost there, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "He's right, you know, it would probably be better if you stayed away from me."

"But...I can't do that now. It probably sounds stupid, but you're the only one who's even been indifferent towards me. Everyone else just hates me."

"Well, then you have something to look forward to."

"Huh?"

"Well, the reason I was looking for your headmaster was because our headmaster wants all of your school to come here until the fire damage is repaired."

In what world was _that_ good news?


End file.
